After connecting to an Excel spreadsheet in Base, one cannot edit the resulting table in Base. The help file confirms this. Is there any way to pull data from a spreadsheet into Base and then make the table editable for future changes to the data without using Access to mediate between Excel and Base? Or is the data eternally unchangeable once it is brought into Base?

First thing, please edit your post title (go to your first post and use the edit button). All capitals is considered shouting here.

Base is a front end to different data sources, it isn't a database itself. There is a database provided, called HSQLdb, so if you have no other data source you can use this for creating databases, with Base as the front end. Or you could use MySQL, or some other database.

But by using a spreadsheet as a datasource like you have done (if I understand you correctly) you haven't actually imported the data into anything it is still in your spreadsheet.

My apologies for the all-caps. No shouting intended, so thank you TheGhurka and Hagar for the correction.

The Ghurka,

Thanks for your informing reply. I had wondered whether or not I was actually importing. Now I see that I was not. Then my question is changed somewhat, but the subject is the same. Can Open Office do as Microsoft Office does, in allowing me to import data from a spreadsheet into an editable table?

For example, with Microsoft Access, I can use FILE>Get External Data>Import>Files of Type>Microsoft Excel. In so doing, I am able to automatically create an editable table out of my excel spreadsheets. Can I use Open Office in a similar way, to import data from a spreadsheet into a table that I can still make changes to in the future? Are you saying that HSQLdb is a part of Open Office which can perform this task?

Yes, you can use HSQLdb to do this. It is supplied with OOo. IMHO, though, I'd use something like MySQL as the database and connect Base to that. And as spreadsheets can be exported as CSV files there is little difficulty in importing them into practically any database.

yes, this can be accomplished. 1. create a database by importing into Base from a spreadsheet. 2. create a second database with a manually created table (something very small and simple). 3. with both databases are open, drag the table from imported database over to the table screen of the manually created database. 4. if it is large it may take a minute but will create an editable table and any associated forms etc are also editable.